Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The Lead Sheet: Twin Cities Jazz, December 7-13

I imagine
radios, I-pods and live performers are pulling up “Take Five,” “Blue Rondo a la
Turk” and more to honor Dave Brubeck, who passed away this morning. Perhaps we
will be hearing samplings of Brubeck and experiments with odd time signatures
throughout the coming week. I know I will think of Dave no matter what live
music I catch over the coming weeks. And there’s plenty of music to catch here
in the Twin Cities.

Highlights This Week

Connie Evingson

Friday, December 7.Connie
Evingson returns to the Artists Quarter, a prelude to a West Coast visit in
January that will take her to Seattle’s
Jazz Alley. Her repertoire is as wide as jazz and even beyond, from songbook
standards to Peggy Lee to the Beatles, Django Reinhard, Dave Frishberg, Norman
Gimbel and whatever falls in-between. And she has an amazing ensemble tonight,
with Tanner Taylor, Dave Karr, Terry Burns and Joe Pulice.

Manhattan Transfer

Friday-Saturday,
December 7-8.
It’s only been about 8 months since the last visit from the Manhattan Transfer, and now they’re back
with a special holiday show at the Dakota. Performing now for nearly 40 years,
the much-honored ensemble still sports three of the four original voices (Alan
Paul, Tim Hauser, Janis Siegel) and long-time fourth, Cheryl Bentyne. Bentyne
was on medical leave last spring when TMT came to town, but is back at full
throttle and in time to celebrate the holidays with TMT’s classic, classy style
– putting pop into jazz, jazz into pop, with their signature harmonies.

Zacc Harris

Saturday, December 8. It’s a busy day for Zacc Harris. Early afternoon finds him
backing popular vocalist Lucia Newell
at Eat Street Social. Lucia has a predilection for Brazilian fare so we can
expect some voice/guitar magic. Then, its another installment of Jazz at Studio
Z with its monthly workshop/concert format, this month featuring
percussionist/educator Babatunde Lea.
Lea is somewhat of a Renaissance man, having spent much of his career in the
Bay Area before relocating to the Midwest by way of Pennsylvania. Along the way he worked with
Bill Summers, McCoy Tyner, Stan Getz and perhaps, most importantly, Leon
Thomas. He also founded the nonprofit Educultural Foundation in California and cofounded
the jazz-friendly record label, Motema. Living just over the border in Wisconsin, Lea has
developed a musical partnership with Zacc Harris, Chris Bates and Richard
Johnson. The quartet will start off the evening with a free workshop, focusing
on the “troponga” – a hybrid trapset/conga instrument, and then head into the
performance space for a concert. We should be hearing from Lea and his
troponga!

Dean Magraw and Billy Peterson

And another
guitarist leads the band tonight at the Artists Quarter, as Dean Magraw heads a quartet with
hot-handed Brandon Wozniak on sax, sublime Billy Peterson on bass, and ever-steady
drummer Kenny Horst. Can’t ask for more capable improvisers!

Sunday, December 9. Start out in the afternoon with
the annual Capri Big Band Holiday Concert at the Capri Theater, Minneapolis
(3 pm, free). It’s our area’s largest
big band with 29 musicians, led by Fay Washington and boasting such names as
Dean Brewington, Jimmy Wallace, Donald and Kevin Washington and Solomon Parham.
And I hear there’s a 12-year-old on piano as well as some veteran teenagers.

Freeman Ryan

A couple
hours later, the PipJazz Sundays
concert season ends at Landmark
Center with a salute to
the holidays and more, with vocalist Pippi Ardennia hosting crooner Jason Richards and young cellist Freeman Ryan. It’s trade mark PipJazz,
meaning a terrific house band (led by Peter Schimke, Billy Peterson, Glenn
Swanson and more), a singing hostess who can make the walls shake (Pippi), and
topnotch guests. The series then goes on
winter break til March.

Monday, December 10.The
Atlantis Quartet (Brandon Wozniak, Zacc Harris, Chris Bates, Pete Hennig)
is gigging a lot these days in preparation for the recording session for the
fourth album. Tonight they perform at the Icehouse, a perfect venue for young,
hip, improvising musicians. But don’t be put off by that description, both the
music and the venue have plenty of gray-haired fans as well—their playful,
thoughtful compositions have universal appeal. They were burning hard last
weekend at the AQ!

John Pizzarelli

Wednesday, December 12. Fingerstyle guitar guru Tim Sparks celebrates the 20th anniversary of his solo interpretation of the Nutcracker Suite with a show at the Guthrie (Dowling Theater). We don't get to hear Tim locally that often--he's been all over the globe in the past twenty years. In addition to pieces from the reissue of the Nutcracker, he'll play some of his jazz and blues favorites.

Javi Santiago

A late announced gig --pianistJavier Santiago is back for a family visit and a gig at Jazz Central tonight with Billy Peterson and dad Mac Santiago, as well as "surprise guests." Javi tore up the teen jazz scene and then went on to the Brubeck Institute for two years before finishing his degree at the New School in New York. Now he's gigging around the Big Apple. Wednesday-Thursday,
December 12-13. He can be slick, he can be very funny, he can
turn the most pop-infested tune and turn it into a swinging chestnut. John Pizzarelli learned from the best,
dad Bucky, and all the cats that came in and out of their musical lives over
the past 50 years. He plays one heckuva guitar and adds pleasing vocals,
peppering his shows with anecdotes, jokes and asides that rival stand-up
routines at Las Vegas
nightclubs. His quartet is impeccable—brother Martin on bass, Larry Fuller on
piano, Tony Tedesco on drums. The John Pizzarelli Quartet returns to the Dakota
for two nights of fun and swing.

Thursday, December 13. Singer Rachel Holder teams up with swinging pianist Rick Carlson for a new installment of vocal jazz at Jazz Central.
Rachel can swing a standard or gild a more poppish cover with the greatest of
ease, and with Rick on keys, they will form an unforgettable duo. And there’s
no better place to get up close and personal with the music than Jazz Central.

More Jazz!

There’s
always more – check live jazz calendars on Jazz
Police and KBEM sites.
Suggestions to make your choices more difficult:

Sunday, December 9. Patty and the Buttons at the Aster
Café (brunch); Century Jazz Ensemble at Century College (3 pm); Zacc Harris Trio at the Riverview Wine Bar;
Charmin Michelle and the Jerry O’Hagan Orchestra at Cinema Ballroom; Butch
Thompson and Pat Donahue at the Dakota

Monday, December 10. Charmin Michelle and Denny
Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Adam Rossmiller at Jazz Central; Russ Peterson Big
Band at the Old Log Theater

Wednesday, December
12. Mary Louise
Knutson at the Galleria (Noon); Connie Evingson at The Wine Market; Charmin
Michelle and Denny Malmberg at Fireside Pizza; Steve Kenny and the Bastids
followed by the New Sound Underground at the Artists Quarter; Patty and the
Buttons at Café Maude (Penn Av); Arne Fogel and the Wolverines at Hell’s Kitchen

Thursday, December 13. Acme Jazz Company at the Shorewood; Southside Aces with Maud Hixson, Holiday CD release at the Eagles Club;
McNallly Smith Venue Night at the Artists Quarter; Minnesota Jazz Orchestra at
Wabasha Street Caves; Maud Hixson and the Southside Aces at the Eagles Club;
James Wallace at the Red Stag; Joel Shapira at Hell’s Kitchen

Coming Soon!

·
December 14-15, Reid Anderson CANCELED due to SPCO lockout (to be rescheduled)